DERRY — After police warned vendors at the Grandview Flea Market that it was illegal to sell knockoff purses, clothing and wallets, there were fewer people selling the counterfeit merchandise.
But after police arrested four men from New York Saturday, police said there were even fewer vendors.
Capt. Vernon Thomas said traffic was a lot lighter Sunday at the intersection of Route 28 and Island Pond Road, which used to get so bad police forced the flea market's owner to hire an officer to direct traffic.
"We will continue to investigate and continue until it's not longer here," Thomas said yesterday, while showing off thousands of counterfeit Burberry scarves, Lacoste shirts and Rolex watches confiscated Saturday.
The problem got so bad, Sen. Robert Letourneau, R-Derry, said Derry became known as the place to go to buy knockoff designer items.
"That's a heck of a thing to be known for," Letourneau said.
The four men arrested Saturday will be the first charged under a new state law enacted in July, which made the sale of counterfeit goods illegal.
Jian Ren Lin, 23, Yu Hua Wang, 36, and Ke-Jun Ling, 54, all of Flushing, N.Y., and Guo-Lin Chen, 52, of Queens, N.Y., have been charged with two counts of dealing counterfeit goods. All four men have been released on personal recognizance bail and will be arraigned in Derry District Court on Nov. 24.
To help identify vendors selling knockoff items, Thomas said, detectives walked around the flea market with representatives from Powers and Associates, a private investigation firm from Massachusetts that works with the designer brands.
"They came in and pointed out specifically what was counterfeit," Thomas said.
Frustrated with the lack of teeth governing the sale of knockoff goods, Derry police asked Letourneau for help last year.
Letourneau said yesterday he's happy the new law is helping rid the town of knockoff items and ease traffic.
"It's the first time it's been used," he said.
Before the new state law was passed, local police departments had little authority to arrest anyone selling counterfeit goods. The crime was only a misdemeanor and carried a penalty of a few hundred dollars.
The new state law, sponsored by Letourneau, brings harsher penalties for selling counterfeit goods. The first charge is a misdemeanor, but subsequent convictions are felonies punishable by prison time.
"These products are illegal to bring into the country, but somehow they smuggle them in here," Letourneau said.
This was the second time in five months the Grandview Flea Market was raided by authorities.
In June, three men from New York were arrested by the U.S. attorney's office and thousands of dollars worth of knockoff purses, sunglasses and wallets were seized and loaded into an 18-wheeler. The three men were charged with trafficking counterfeit goods.
Under federal law, each man could serve up to 10 years in prison and pay up to $2 million in fines if convicted.
Derry police said they expect to eliminate vendors selling counterfeit items.
Anyone purchasing counterfeit items could be charged under the same state law as the four men, Thomas said, if police believe the items could be resold.
He said he wasn't anticipating any charges for flea market owner Martin Taylor.
"We have made him aware this is going on and we expect his full cooperation," Thomas said.
Taylor chose not to comment yesterday.
